The Taking of Melanaath
The Taking of Melanaath was a bloody and costly battle fought by the Iron Bears against the Eldar of Craftworld Melanaath. Blood on Wraithbone As humanity began to spread across the stars at an ever increasing pace, they began to encounter ever more of the Eldar vessels known as Craftworlds. Each of these vessels was aeons old and each Craftworld seemed to have a different agenda to the last yet many were actively hostile to the Imperium. One such Craftworld was Craftworld Melanaath. Launching an assault of the Angva system, the Craftworld raised two Imperial worlds before it fled at the approach of the VIth legion. However, they had gravely underestimated the VIth and their primarch as well as the anger that the Eldar's actions would cause in Daer'dd. The Primarch flew into a great rage, the like of which the VIth, his brothers and the crew of the Dragon of Autumn had rarely seen before. While he initially intended to give chase himself, he was persuaded by his brother Alexandros that he could not afford to do so, for he was needed on the frontlines of the Great Crusade. While he accepted this to be true, Daer'dd also knew that he would know no peace until Craftworld Menalaath was destroyed and the human lives lost avenged. So it was that he dispatched Chief Damon Redd at the head of the 4th and 5th Grand Wartribes to enact his will. As the Craftworld sought to escape and their liege returned to the front lines of the Great Crusade, the Iron King and his forces eagerly took up the chase. Rapidly catching up with the Craftworld, the vessels of the VIth put their plan into action. Three VIth Legion ships, the Dragon, the Emperor's Leviathan and Terrible Weight, closed with the Craftworld. Once within range, they fired their Ursus claws at the Eldar ship, pinning it in place and then loosed a volley of cannon fire and boarding torpedoes. These early boarding parties were then followed by units of Totem Guard terminators launching a teleport assault onto the Craftworld. The objective of these units was to secure landing zones for VIth Legion armour and knight support to board the Craftworld. For almost six hours the fighting around these zones swung back and forth between the two armies, with the Eldar desperately trying to throw the Iron Bears off of their Craftworld and the Iron Bears clinging on to the zones by whatever means necessary. However, the Eldar could not move the VIth's elite and, while costly, the Totem Guard were able to secure the landing zones, allowing the 4th to board the Craftworld with armour and knights. Over the next five days, the Iron Bears would engage the Eldar in a brutal battle amidst the winding corridors and fake forests of the Craftworld. In this savage battle, there were no front lines, only individual combats. Iron Bears squads were frequently ambushed by units of striking scorpions or aspect warriors as they fought their way through the Craftworld and no mercy was given nor was any expected. By the fifth day, the Craftworld resembled an abattoir more than what it had once been. It's forests burned and the ships itself was gradually being blasted apart as the Iron Bears destroyed many vital structures within it and slaughtered it's inhabitants, earning the nickname the "Dread Blades" from the Eldar. During this savage fighting, many warriors of the VIth accomplished deeds of martial skill and determination that are worthy of their own epics. One Iron Bear, Enoch Awanjish held out against the Eldar for four hours despite having lost his legs below the knee and having to amputate his own left hand. Using the bodies of his dead brethren for cover, he fought off four separate attacks by Eldar aspect warriors before being relieved and was later promoted to sergeant for his actions. Then there was Chief Ah'nek, the "giant", who slew countless Eldar warriors. However, by far the most heroic deed was that accomplished by Damon Redd himself, who bested an Avatar of Khaine in single combat after a duel lasting almost an hour and slaughtered every Eldar he fought, his kill count exceeding one thousand. By the time the battle was over, Melanaath was a graveyard, a hollow shell of what it had once been. Every last one of it's inhabitants had been butchered and vengeance exacted for the razed Imperial worlds. However, the price payed by the VIth had been heavy, with them losing nearly 10,000 brothers amidst the corridors of Melanaath. Such is the price paid to keep the Imperial domain safe. Category:Great Crusade Category:Imperial Campaigns Category:Iron Bears